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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317629">Lost and Found</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluemily/pseuds/Cluemily'>Cluemily</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FNaFmily Collection (FNaF AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Five Nights at Freddy's</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen, One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:22:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,070</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317629</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluemily/pseuds/Cluemily</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marlene and Robert take on the task to ensure a long-closed location is empty of anything valuable before it's demolished, neither expects to find what they did.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FNaFmily Collection (FNaF AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lost and Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey so! I wasn't actually entirely sure I wanted to post this anywhere, but I made a deal with myself that if Plushtrap came to FNAF AR (they're my favourite character) I'd do it anyway, no matter my feelings on this in the end. And what else would happen but that! Though I am still a little nervous about posting this slkdgh.</p><p>It's perhaps not perfect and I still have a lot of work to do fleshing out this AU but I like writing stuff for it sometimes. In summary it's just a little self-indulgent AU where I just threw all the murder and supernatural stuff in the trash and everything's mostly wholesome content with super smart robots. Most human characters are my own OCs (as I don't entirely believe I could beat some amazing characterisations of existing characters that are out there), and whilst I kept FNaF's original cast I did create a few of my own which feature entirely in this story (in some form)! I've never actually made a whole AU so it's an entirely new endeavour for myself, despite its simplicity as a concept (I basically kept almost all the locations functioning at once and scattered around Utah and the surrounding states).</p><p>I have a series on here now for this AU so if I do post any more stories that I feel I want to set in this I'll put them in there!</p><p>(Oh and also shoutout to my fiancé who helped me name three whole characters in this for me!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The paint peeled away from the building in large chunks, some already piled and decaying around the edges of the structure’s walls. The sign on the outside had long been taken away, hiding the location’s original name. Or maybe someone had stolen it when it had began to wear away and possibly collapse. Windows were dirty and impossible to see through and, if they stood back far enough, there may have been a few holes in the roof visible. That wasn’t even touching on what was left of the car park made of dirt where the flora had long reclaimed the dirt for its own and making their journey here rougher than it had to be.</p><p> </p><p>“They really love leaving things in their old locations, huh,” mused the taller of the two, idly twisting the heavy duty flashlight in his hand. “They sure there’s something in here worth salvaging? That looks like a lot of water damage and rotten wood just waiting to send someone to the hospital.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well that’s why there’s two of us. Just put my fees on the company tab,” the other of the pair shot back, brushing a few dark curls to the side. “Now c’mon, we’re burning daylight.”</p><p> </p><p>Robert replied with a grunt as he lifted a set of bolt cutters from the bed of the pickup truck and resting them on his shoulder as they approached the front doors.</p><p> </p><p>“I call dibs on any sealed merch they left behind,” Robert declared before snapping through the chains holding the door shut and letting them fall to the ground. It then only took a few strong pushes to take out the weakened lock on the door itself before they could take a torch and finally examine the interior of the building. Robert whistled. “How long did they tell you they left this place? Looks like shit.”</p><p> </p><p>Marlene hummed. “They didn’t say,” she mumbled, hearing a quiet ‘typical’ in reply. “Just watch your step and give me a shout if you find anything. Or anyone,” she called before carefully picking her way through some debris and beginning to examine the rooms around the entrance.</p><p> </p><p>Robert pinched his brow and slowly inhaled, exhaling just as slow before shaking his head and opting to instead walk ahead, leaving Marlene to examine the rooms here. With every creak he froze, testing the floors carefully before he would tread on until he arrived at what had to be the main dining area back when the location was active. He was surprised to find it almost barren, most of the seating having been removed at some point and leaving nothing but some tattered curtains around a stage that was against the far wall.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m guessing they don’t want the old furniture?” Robert yelled back down the hall where he came from. “Or… what’s left of it.”</p><p> </p><p>“No. They’re after the metal, not wood!” Marlene called back, head peering out of a doorway. “Unless it looks valuable. Then just pile it somewhere!”</p><p> </p><p>Robert quickly deemed the chairs made of damp wood weren’t worth anything, treading carefully across the room and noting that there was definitely holes in the ceiling. Nothing catastrophic but it was definitely on its way there. The stage seemed like the next best bet; if the parts room was going to be anywhere, behind the stage seemed like a good guess. He stopped at the short step and in front of the curtains, debating on if the floor here would be stable and then tentatively pulling back the curtains.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh hello…” Robert almost sang, eyebrows raised in surprise. He let his flashlight hover over his discovery, searching for movement before frowning and looking over his shoulder. “Hey Mar, they left their whole team behind!”</p><p> </p><p>He heard a clattering and a soft curse before Marlene almost stormed across the room, face a mix of confusion and anger.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re joking, right? These things cost a fortune and they left them behind?” Even as she let her flashlight join his in lighting the trio on stage she struggled to comprehend what they’d found.</p><p> </p><p>The trio of animatronics were slumped, all back to back with one another as if they had sat there at some point and just never gotten back up. Neither of the two humans could seem to find an overarching theme to the trio.</p><p> </p><p>One seemed to be cartoonishly inhuman, once bright pink cheeks now dull and chipped, with a head that was once a perfect sphere at some point was just tatters of dirty white rubber and a chunk of an eternally wide grin that was left barely hanging onto its original form; it almost made Robert think of zombie movies, reminding him of the way the flesh would hang from the bone in them. One beady black eye had survived, though, and blindly gazed out across the dining hall. The character’s outfit was a mix of black, white and pinks that maybe once matched their cheeks but it too had began to fall to pieces, plates beneath the fabric either entirely missing below the knees or chipped in areas to expose chunks of endoskeleton.</p><p> </p><p>To their left Robert was immediately reminded of the ballerina that CBEAR owned, if they were perhaps the ghostly star of a horror movie. They shared the same ghostly pale paint job as the ballerina, but lacked the plates and… an entire face of features, now that Robert had circled to get a better look. Besides the shape of a nose the robot entirely lacked any facial features. Odd but maybe they weren’t built to have a face, or hair. It looked like once a decorative veil had circled the head but, like most fabric, had been lost over time. The rest of the animatronic was similar in that the more delicate of the fabrics were in tatters, though the thicker pieces didn’t hold up much better, giving the duo the impression of a washed up jellyfish. The dainty legs, reminiscent of the Puppet’s but maybe a little thicker, were in the worst shape when it came to the body, almost entirely missing from just above the knee.</p><p> </p><p>They turned to the final character, grimacing at the state of them. If the second animatronic could be described with the word ‘aquatic’, this one screamed ‘fire’. Whilst some parts of the outfit made of mostly blacks and reds seemed intentionally distressed, others were clearly just as worn to time as the other two. The most concerning detail was the fact that a few parts of the body seemed to have almost melted. Singed holes near joints littered the animatronic, dark flesh-coloured plates of the suit entirely melted down onto the endoskeleton in some parts, their face almost entirely gone and leaving the skull of the endoskeleton exposed to the elements. It looked like some parts of the outfit, especially around the neck, had been adorned with fluffy faux fur at one point, or perhaps feathers, at some point too, which had matted down into a disgusting mess of patchy material.</p><p> </p><p>As the duo passed between each animatronic and gave them all a brief visual examination, Marlene’s brow seemed to furrow more with each detail she noted.</p><p> </p><p>“I… don’t know if we can salvage these. If they were just left here, maybe even activated and wandering for who knows how long, it’s hard to tell what the real damage is. But they don’t look so good,” the head technician admitted, crouching to examine the first one. She gently lifted a piece of dangling rubber that was once part of the face before dropping it with a sigh and standing once more. “Just leave them for now. We’ll take them with us.” Her flashlight scanned the back wall, landing on a doorway. “This might be the parts and services, let’s check it out first.”</p><p> </p><p>Robert agreed with a grunt and, giving the trio of animatronics a final glance, followed closely behind Marlene.</p><p> </p><p>The door wasn’t locked, they quickly found out. But it too hadn’t been safe from the moisture. The wood was soaked and filled the door frame as it expanded, jamming it shut. They’d long put past trying to avoid damaging an already damaged building, opting to kick the door in and with a few well placed kicks it swung in and hit the wall with a violent shudder. Marlene was quick to move in first and check the room, alerting Robert to another issue as she quietly gasped and muttered a few expletives under her breath.</p><p> </p><p>Robert moved closer to peer over Marlene’s shoulder, glancing around before focusing on where she was focusing her beam of light and giving a concerned hum.</p><p> </p><p>If he had to describe this room, he would compare it to the destruction left in the wake of a tornado; boxes of parts had been pulled from shelves and scattered the floor, spare limbs were stacked on the table and various parts that the cook couldn’t identify were thrown haphazardly around the rest of the room. He couldn’t tell if someone had looked for something, or if something, or someone, had gotten trapped in here and went mad trying to escape. From the lack of… organic materials, Robert quickly assured himself that something else must have done this. Maybe before the building finally closed its doors.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re gonna have to box this stuff up and get it in the truck,” Marlene stated, moving into the room with careful steps, avoiding stepping on anything in fear she’d break something that was already fragile. Their salvation came in the form of plastic storage containers, still relatively intact safe for a few cracks; they’d be strong enough to at least get the parts out and back to the warehouse, at least. “Help me pack up and then we’ll take it all out.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. I’m on it,” he groaned back, taking a box from the technician and crouching down to begin plucking the metal parts from the ground and dropping them into the box. A stern look from Marlene quickly convinced him to place them in a little more gently.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They worked quickly but quietly, slowly filling boxes up and stacking them near the doorway. Either of them only broke the sound with a small hiss of pain if they picked up a broken piece with a sharp corner but otherwise they worked in silence. It was a relatively long drive back, after all, and they wanted to be out of here before it got too dark.</p><p> </p><p>The next time the silence was broken both of them quickly turned to the door, almost dropping what they were carrying as a huge bang accompanied with scraping and clattering echoed from the dining area.</p><p> </p><p>“Shit, what was that?” Robert wheezed, barely keeping his grip on the box full of parts in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Honestly, I’m hoping it was part of the ceiling… or a wild animal.” Marlene put the spare limbs in her arms back on the table, picking up her torch that sat on a shelf to give her some light and swinging it towards the doorway. “If it’s some<em>thing </em>then it moved away, I think.” She crept towards the doorway and peered around the edge before whispering a quiet ‘shit’ and looking back to Robert, a mixture of concern and panic on her face. “That pink one’s gone.”</p><p> </p><p>“And the others?” Marlene didn’t reply this time and instead slowly approached the remaining two which had slumped further at the disturbance. She hesitated a moment before giving each a gentle shake and seeing no response aside from them slumping slightly more at the disturbance.</p><p> </p><p>“I think only one of them’s still working,” she noted to herself, groaning as she dragged a hand down her face. “They all looked so fucked up, I thought they’d just shut down. I didn’t even think to check…” She paused, eyes widening as she saw the light trickling in from the door down the hall. “And we left a door to the outside wide open.” Marlene turned to shine her light on Robert who still hovered in the doorway to the parts and services room. “Rob close the door and keep an eye open. I’ll go find them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mar do I need to give you a fatherly advice moment because I cannot emphasize how dangerous chasing an active animatronic we know nothing about is,” Robert snapped back. “Plus, they’re broken!”</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly! Look!” Marlene swung her flashlight to scan the ground, stopping as she found what she was looking for. “Its scraped the stage up when it ran, and then it keeps doing it,” she pointed out, flashlight slowly following a trail of fresh, deep scratches in the wood of the room. “They’ve got no balance left. I’ll be shocked if their legs are even working. If they’re dangerous then a kick’ll take them down easy.” She tilted her head in the direction of the entrance. “Door. Now.”</p><p> </p><p>She left no more room for arguments as she stormed off with her light trained on the floor as she followed the scratches and drag marks – probably from legs that were almost defunct from the knee down, like she’d assumed the first time she’d looked them over – as they led away from the dining room and off into another corridor lined with doors. A cursory glance told her this was all staff areas. Marlene paused, scanning for an open door or some sign of where the withered animatronic would have hidden; they were quick considering the condition they were in.</p><p> </p><p>One door quickly gave away their location, door handle missing, having rolled off somewhere, and the rest of the wood covered in scratches similar to the floor as she approached. She heard the sounds of movement inside as she slowly approached before giving the door a gentle shove and letting it easily swing inwards. Marlene didn’t know whether to laugh or just pity the sight she walked in on.</p><p> </p><p>The animatronic had made for a corner of the room where a large vent was, at one point, sealed shut on the wall. The technician silently cursed the company for their stupidly large interest in equally large air vents, never believing their bullshit about better air circulation or whatever. At least at this location they’d opted for grates over them but it seemed even time had gotten to them and the decaying animatronic had mostly pulled it off enough to create an opening either before or after their arrival. Their only issue now was their metal hands had no grip to pull themselves further in and their broken legs could only dangle uselessly and catch on anything and everything to stop their escape.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey buddy,” Marlene whispered in as soothing as voice as she could manage after a moment of quietly watching, only raising her voice as the struggle got worse when they realised they were cornered, a mix of feedback, static and brief squeaks echoing down the vent. It almost reminded her of one of those animals on a documentary when a predator caught them. “Hey, hey! It’s okay, I’m here to help you! I’m a friend!” She watched them hesitantly still at that last word, though still tensed and ready to run. “I’m just gonna get you out of there and take a better look, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t move from her spot until she finally saw the animatronic go limp, slowly approaching and softly cooing as she narrated everything she was doing until, a few good tugs later, the character was free and slumped on the floor. Marlene almost thought they’d finally shut down from their struggles until the head slowly tilted to examine her face. At that she crouched down to bring herself to eye level.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey buddy, you got a name?” She frowned as her only answer was another mix of that odd static, feedback and squeaks. “Okay well… we’ll see about fixing that? How about walking, how’d ya get over here, huh?” The animatronic quickly moved to demonstrate their ability to stand but quickly stumbled. Without thinking Marlene stepped forward to catch them, huffing as their entire weight fell across her shoulders. “Shit uh. Just sit back down, I got a better idea.” With some awkward hobbling steps she was able to set them back against the wall, stepping back to pick up the flashlight she’d dropped. “Don’t move, I’m gonna get backup.”</p><p> </p><p>Marlene flinched at the volume of the broken, panicked sounds that came from the damaged speakers inside the animatronic, ignoring them for the time being as she carefully picked her way across the rooms and back to the front door to find Robert waiting. He raised a brow as she approached empty-handed.</p><p> </p><p>“Did they get out?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, but get the handcart. There’s too much exposed endo to try carrying them,” she explained with a wave of her hand.</p><p> </p><p>Robert backed out the door and jogged to the bed of the truck, dragging out the aforementioned handcart and wheeling it back. “So do you think they expected anything they left to still be running?”</p><p> </p><p>“I damn well hope not or I’m not letting them hear the end of this.” She led the way back, Robert and the handcart close behind.</p><p> </p><p>“How the hell are they still going? None of them looked ready to get up, let alone run away.”</p><p> </p><p>Marlene paused and brought Robert to a sudden stop, idly pulling on a tight curl and thinking back to the two other inactive animatronics. “I have a guess, but I can’t be sure until I can check them out properly. But with the state of the parts room, and the one missing legs…” She trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>It took a moment before it clicked with Robert. “They tried maintaining themselves?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve never met a stupid Fazbear animatronic. Some might act a little goofy but they’re still computers under all that personality. I wouldn’t put it past them to figure out how to do that to some extent in a pinch,” she speculated, lifting her flashlight higher as they approached the hall. “Would explain why their legs still don’t work right. It’s not their parts.” This time when she came to a sudden stop Robert hit the back of her heel with the cart, swearing quietly as she hissed and looked back at the cook. He shot her a look before following the beam of light and whistling softly, leaning up against the handcart.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe they’re just stubborn,” he noted, the grin obvious in his tone of voice as he examined the animatronic that last Marlene had seen was practically wailing as she left it.</p><p> </p><p>They had only gotten about a quarter of the way down the hall since Marlene had ran off, perhaps too low on energy to make much more of an effort to move. They stood off to the side, knock-kneed, trying to hold themselves up on defunct legs. The technician wasn’t entirely sure how they were walking until they took another shaky step, using the wall for balance as they turned their hips to pull each leg forward a step at a time before reassuming their previous pose. She finally stepped forward as they made to move again, hands up to stop them and hoping her expression didn’t give away the worry eating away at her when she heard soft grinding of metal upon metal, parts moving in ways they weren’t made to any more.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey buddy! Let’s just stay where you are, alright?” Marlene spoke softly, beckoning for Robert to come closer. “We’re gonna get you on this and wheel you to the truck, alright? We’re gonna take you out of here and fix you up, ‘kay buddy?”</p><p> </p><p>The animatronic seemed to pause, one foot shuffling back the slightest. A few more gentle coaxing words and the nickname ‘buddy’ seemed to eventually convince them to allow the two humans to carefully wheel the handcart behind them and to move both feet onto the small platform, directing them to hold onto the bar behind them. It was slow but they eventually began to carefully pass through the dining room with no issue.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t until they reached the door to pass outside that their active animatronic began to loudly shriek in that broken voice as they twisted to look back inside, threatening to send them and Robert toppling as he grappled with the weight of the animatronic as it moved. Once again Marlene stepped in to calm the mascot, flinching at the high screeches but succeeding at keeping calm and attracting their attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Buddy it’s okay. Is it your friends?” At ‘friends’ she caught two long stems shuddering atop the exposed head of the endoskeleton, trying to move upright in recognition of the word. Almost like ears, she thought. But they certainly didn’t look like one of the more animalistic mascots she’d seen. “We’re just gonna put you in the truck and I promise they’re coming out next. They can sit next to you in the back seat, even,” she bargained, ignoring Robert’s huff of air. He’d just have to deal with any mess later. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving an active animatronic in the open bed of a truck; she was even more sure that even thinking of turning them off for the trip would cause even more problems.</p><p> </p><p>They stared at her for a moment before slumping back against the handles of the handcart, leaving Robert to stumble once more and keep them upright. The two humans shared a look before they picked up the pace and carefully transferred the animatronic into the back seat.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll leave the door open. We’ll be right back, alright? Promise, buddy,” she assured them as she slowly backed away. With no response beside another soft screech from the broken voicebox before they slumped in the seat, she decided it was safe to leave them and the pair quickly moved back inside to pick up the next animatronic.</p><p> </p><p>The other two were a little more awkward to move, if only for the fact upon choosing the legless one to move first the shifting of the animatronic caused a surprising amount of water to fall out of the suit and Marlene nearly letting go in surprise with a yelp. The two co-workers shared a look of confusion before moving them a little more carefully to then return for their next one, this time pausing at the ash that seemed to rub off onto anything that came into contact with them – that made sense, with the melted parts, but the technician hadn’t really seen an animatronic literally melt its own shell down. She took notes to really check them out later.</p><p> </p><p>They succeeded without anything besides a couple close calls as they crossed the threshold, playing it off like they didn’t nearly let their active animatronic companion see them drop their inactive friends onto the dirt, soon sliding them into the back seat despite Robert’s clear displeasure as he saw the state of his seats after only coming into contact with probably the cleanest of the three. All three animatronics were strapped in and once again told to stay put whilst they went back for what they originally came for; the now-boxed spare parts they had left sitting in the parts and service room.</p><p> </p><p>Moving boxes that could easily stack onto the handcart went much quicker than their previous task. Robert wheeled them out with ease whilst Marlene carried a couple more, emptying parts and service and leaving it barren.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to check the rest of the building. Make sure that’s it, save for this cheap furniture,” Marlene called out as Robert exited the building with the final load of parts, giving a wave in acknowledgement.</p><p> </p><p>She’d checked the rooms at the entrance before Robert’s discovery, turning her attention now to the staff only section of the building. The woman already knew that the room at the far end was basically bare so that left the doors littering the sides of the hall.</p><p> </p><p>Her hopes of finding anything else worth taking back were low, so it was a surprise to start finding scraps of paper littering a couple of the rooms. She’d initially thought they were just blank sheets of paper but eventually her torchlight caught flashes of colour and drew her attention in for a closer look.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh.”</p><p> </p><p>The technician swung her light source across the floor of the rooms in search of larger scraps of the colour, picking a few up along the way and frowning at the glimpses of familiar plated limbs… but no faces. A further search didn’t turn up anything so, reluctantly, Marlene shoved what she found into the pocket of her jacket and headed back to the truck, closing the door of the building behind her. She didn’t know what the company’s plans were for the building now – she expected demolition – but no one needed an animatronic being stuck in there, or getting out and causing problems. With a final pat of the door Marlene made to return to the truck, slowing as she approached with an eyebrow raised.</p><p> </p><p>“What in the world are you doing?”</p><p> </p><p>Robert didn’t even start, opting to finish watching whatever the active animatronic was doing before glancing up at Marlene with a bright grin. “I’m bonding with our new pal.” He tilted his chin down to direct her attention to whatever his attention had been on before.</p><p> </p><p>Stepping closer, Marlene leaned across the two inactive animatronics to take a look at whatever had taken the animatronic’s interest to where they didn’t look up, hissing and screeching softly in what may have been an attempt at singing a tune. She’d expected to see them trying to colour in the pages but was surprised to find them filling in the blank space with seemingly random drawings in the one black crayon.</p><p> </p><p>“So is this it? Or do we have a name?” Their new friend seemed to perk up at the mention of a name, feedback hissing out of their voicebox once more as they shakily tried to flip through the book with their exposed hands. Just as she moved to offer to hold the book it was being clumsily shoved in her face, taking it off the animatronic who seemed much happier than they were in the building. Marlene gave them one more look before looking down at the page.</p><p> </p><p>Compared to other pages this one had been relatively untouched; Robert’s two kids had already marked the book as theirs, having messily scribbled ‘Donny’ and ‘Lita’ across the page, but below theirs was a new name written in just as childish handwriting but it still felt like some character signature, despite the obvious struggle the writer had had jotting it down.</p><p> </p><p>“Oakley, huh?” Marlene quietly mumbled to herself, flipping through the rest of the pages to see if they wrote anything else, only to find shaky stick figures of what may have been themselves. One side of her mouth twitched down before she slid the book back across and stepped away from the truck. The name didn’t ring any bells and, going by Robert’s shrug, he hadn’t heard of any animatronic by that name either.</p><p> </p><p>But Fazbear would probably be thrilled to have the chance to revive old mascots – it’d be a bonus if they still had the designs stored somewhere, too, if only to explain the charred and water-logged pair next to Oakley. “Well, I’ve had enough of this dump. Leave?”</p><p> </p><p>“Leave,” Robert agreed, closing the door on Oakley’s side as Marlene followed suit on hers and both co-workers slipped into the front seats with Robert behind the wheel. Robert reached to adjust his rear view mirror, pausing as he caught sight of Oakley in it and frowning. “Marlene,” he murmured, tilting his back to direct her attention to the animatronic as he chose to start the engine.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, hey don’t do that!” Marlene gently chided the animatronic, grabbing their hand and pulling it away from the hanging pieces of rubber still attached to their face.</p><p> </p><p>A glitchy squeak crackled out from Oakley’s speaker as they stared back, expression almost unreadable with the lack of a set of eyes and eyelids and only the faint red glow of the optics usually behind them; the slightly agape jaw and broken stems atop the head of the endoskeleton seemed to give off surprise, however. Marlene wasn’t sure if they had began picking at the damage out of habit or the glass of the window had finally given them a clean reflective surface to examine the extent, but she wasn’t letting them remove any more. “You’re gonna give me extra work if you tear yourself up any more.”</p><p> </p><p>It took a few moments of staring before Oakley finally pulled their hand away and sat it on their knees, looking every bit like a scolded child. Satisfied, Marlene gave their exposed hands a gentle pat before turning back around in her seat to stare out the window for their drive back. The building was barely out of sight before Robert cleared his throat to catch her attention, directing her attention immediately back to their passenger. They were quick despite their wear and tear but Marlene caught them slamming their hand back down onto their lap, feigning innocence.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m watching you, buddy,” she warned. Marlene watched out of the corner of her eye as she turned back around, swinging back as soon as she lost sight of Oakley to catch their hand once again sneaking up to their face. “I’ll take the hands off if I catch you one more time,” she threatened, though unable to avoid the smallest of smiles. Even so, Oakley seemed to get the message and quickly tried to pull their hands out of sight. Satisfied, Marlene finally got comfortable once more.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t long until Robert heard movement behind him once more, adjusting his mirror to get a better look at Oakley and silently hushing Marlene as he caught her gaze. “Hey Oakley,” Robert called, smirking as the animatronic jolted and tried to pull themselves back into the stiff pose from before. “Behave and I have a couple kids who’d love to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a sharp click as the joints on the head perked up, head tilting heavily to the side as a curious squeak chimed faintly from their voicebox. It took a moment before Oakley seemed to realise something and picked up the colouring book they’d left with them, giving it a gentle shake. “Yep, that’s theirs,” Robert confirms. Oakley looked down at the book, making a faint humming noise that quickly cut off with a screech of feedback before quietly opening to a random page and absorbing themselves in drawing on the pages, book tilted to hide whatever they were doing from the two in the front of the car. Neither questioned it, glad to have something to occupy the withered animatronic besides assessing their own damage.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The rest of the drive went off without a hitch; their passenger stayed absorbed in the book, refusing to let anyone see and holding it close until they finally arrived back to the distribution centre.</p><p> </p><p>Robert drove through the security gates and followed Marlene’s direction to one of the loading docks around the back, finally sitting back with a sigh as they arrived and he turned off the engine.</p><p> </p><p>“Finally,” he groaned, stepping out of the truck to stretch stiff limbs before sitting in the driver’s seat once more to reach into the glovebox as Marlene stood up. Robert made a small sound as he found what he was searching for, exiting the truck once more and sighing heavily as he perched a cigarette between his lips and lit it, leaning against the roof of the truck. He took a long drag, holding it for a moment before speaking up as the smoke fell from his mouth. “Don’t say a word, this is my first one.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wasn’t gonna,” Marlene retorted, retreating to the inside of the warehouse and returning with a large flat bed trolley. “Just help me unload all this or I might just let it slip around Toffee that you’re hiding them in your glovebox,” she continued, sly grin on her face as she pulled off the first couple boxes and started to fill the trolley.</p><p> </p><p>He scoffed, finishing his smoke in record time and stubbing it out in the ashtray hidden in the glovebox before joining the technician.</p><p> </p><p>With Robert passing boxes down and Marlene skilfully stacking them, they were quickly left with an empty pickup truck, both now turning to the animatronic who had been peering through the rear window and watching them curiously.</p><p> </p><p>Marlene turned the trolley around, giving it a shove to get it rolling as she aimed it for the ramp into the warehouse. “I’ll empty the trolley and take the three in together,” she called back.</p><p> </p><p>Returning quickly with the emptied trolly, she was joined by two pairs of curious eyes and extra hands dressed in a uniform similar to her coveralls peering into the truck before Marlene shooed them back and beckoned Robert over.</p><p> </p><p>“You get Oakley and we’ll get the rest.”</p><p> </p><p>With the four of them working together, all three animatronics were soon either sitting against the back of the trolley like Oakley or carefully laid flat like the other two. Robert couldn’t help but grimace at the ash and water clinging to the back seats, looking to Marlene on the other side who had a similar look.</p><p> </p><p>“Put it on the company’s tab. We’ll just borrow a company van next time,” Marlene noted to herself, closing the door on her side and walking around to lean on the trolley.</p><p> </p><p>“Next time? Nah I think I’m done getting out of work for a while,” he replied, sliding into the driver seat and rolling down the window. He turned his attention to the animatronic who was quickly going back to examining themselves. “Oakley. Best behaviour and I’ll keep my promise, got it?”</p><p> </p><p>Satisfied with Oakley’s slight nod as they lost interest in favour of the new sights, Robert waved through the window as Marlene headed back into the warehouse. He sighed as they moved out of sight, carding a hand through his hair as he sat back for a moment. They all knew there was a chance Oakley and their gang wouldn’t be approved for repairs but Marlene did seem hopeful, especially if they’d just brought their parts back in boxes with spares to go around. Robert quietly told himself that was just business, and even if most staff treated the animatronics like any other staff member the higher-ups didn’t share that same sentiment. It didn’t stop the guilt at the idea of promising Oakley something only for them to be scrapped.</p><p> </p><p>Robert shook his head as if he could just throw out the thoughts, jamming the key into the ignition and adjusting his rear view mirror. He paused, catching the bright cover of the colouring book on the back seat and, with some hesitation, he leaned back to pull it into his lap. At first glance he couldn’t seem to find anything new or worth noting as he flipped through each page. But when he turned to the blank side of the back cover he raised a brow at the writing carefully written across in the single crayon, decorated with cartoonish hearts, stars and flowers.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>‘We hope to see you soon!’</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Below that were written three names; Oakley’s looked like a perfect copy of their past name but the other two were entirely new. In elegant cursive was the name ‘Hadley’, and next to that in sharp, spiked letters was ‘Paisley’. It didn’t take a genius to realise Oakley had just copied the signatures of the two deactivated robots perhaps just as perfect as if they had wrote it themselves, leaving a small gift for Robert’s twins the next time they’d open the book. The twisting in his gut was back with a vengeance, debating on whether he should hide the book.</p><p> </p><p>In the end the book was deposited onto the passenger seat. That was a problem for after. He’d definitely text Marlene later with his new knowledge of the full trio’s names, if only to help her hunt down anything about them. For now he had a damn vehicle to clean before he picked up his kids from their babysitter.</p>
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